A Christian Aroma

This afternoon, I took one of those plug-in air fresheners and put it into one of the electrical sockets in the office. Even before turning it on, I could smell the aroma that was going to come from it. And when I plugged it in, it began to fill the office with whatever fragrance it is. I know however, that this fragrance, while initially strong, eventually, will taper off. It will be less powerful tomorrow and over the next few weeks, eventually needing to be replaced again. I also know that after a while the smell will not be so vibrant perhaps because my nose will become “desensitized” to it. Even when I eventually go to change it, there still will be a remnant of that fragrance.

As Christians, we at times can find ourselves in ruts, times where we may feel like we have distanced from God. And our faith, like the air freshener, begins to not “produce” as much as we once did. Perhaps we get distracted and pressured by the world. Perhaps some of us have gotten to the point that we are going through the motions. Remember what Christ had to say about this? Revelation 2:4-5 says, But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.  Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.” Well what are those works we did at first? Perhaps we have neglected the key areas of scripture and prayer which is our lifeline. If we ignore prayer and scripture, we quickly become dry. 

Some of us may say, well, I don’t know what to pray. I read a quote from John Bunyan, the author of The Pilgrims Progress who said/wrote, “When you pray, rather let your heart be without words then your words without heart.” It is ok to not know what to pray, You can sit in silence during a time of prayer, let out your heart to God. If we let our hearts out to God we know that he is listening.

What about scripture reading? Start slow, pray that God would meet you in your reading and that he would give you a thirst or a longing for the scriptures. It does not need to be a long time, but something that can be developed over time.  Perhaps use a devotional or go through a book of the Bible and read a bit a day, maybe look at some devotionals and listen to Christian pastors, I recommend Alistair Begg from Truth for Life.

I hope that these thoughts keep us on the track to continuing to be pursuing God and living as Christians and producing an “aroma” that is honoring and glorifying to the Lord. 

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Going on Vacation?

A few weeks ago, we went to Michigan to celebrate my grandfather’s 90th birthday. At the party, they had their family Bible there and inside of the Bible was a crude “bulletin” that we had made as kids for our “Cottage Church” service. Enclosed in the contents was an order of worship containing “solos” by cousins, a sermon by my grandfather and aunt, among other things. We may have not been at a “church” service that day, but we certainly took time to worship, even while we were on vacation.
Now that school has let out for the summer, vacation is a time that just about everyone anticipates. We ask our eldest son, Joshua, how many days until we are going on vacation, and he proudly gives us the correct number. It is good to be excited for vacation and a time of rest is something that God has commanded as a good thing! (If you are wondering about that, I would encourage you to look at a previous blog about the Sabbath located here.) But as vacation is on our minds, and our church attendance will certainly be experiencing the “summer numbers” trend, I thought I would take a moment exhorting all of us to not take a “vacation” from God.
For most of us, vacation is a time of refreshment and renewal. It is a time to reconnect with our spouse, to spend some time catching up with family, and a time to create memories doing various things that you might not do on a regular basis, but we may need to remember an essential part of our family, and that is God, right?
Many times we find ourselves very busy and as a result we cut out things in our daily routine and often the thing that gets “axed” is the most important part of the day, and that is time spent with God. I know that in my life there have been times where I say, “I need to get back on track with God. I need to get back to (Prayer, Scripture Reading, etc) and I will do it tomorrow...and then a few days pass, a week passes, and maybe longer.
Vacation can exacerbate a problem of “spiritual dryness” by getting us out of the routine.   But the reality is that we need to develop a thirst for it. Scripture should be something that we long for, God is what we should long for. Better than McDonald’s fries, the more of God that we get the more we should want! In a time of distress, David wrote, “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So i have looked upon you in the sanctuary beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as i live; in your name I will lift up my hands.” (Psalm 63:1-4)

How then should we set up our vacation for success? Here are some suggestions that I am going to try out myself:

1. Prioritize Prayer. Perhaps the most important thing that we can do is pray. Prayer is communication with God, right? While we are catching up with our family, Talk to God! Tell him the things that are stressing you out, and upsetting you.  Charles Spurgeon once said, “A true prayer is an inventory of needs, a catalog of necessities, an exposure of secret wounds, a revelation of hidden poverty.” Use prayer ad a time to receive from God as well. Consider some time of silence.
2. Scriptural Start. For some, vacations can be less “scheduled” and more relaxed. So schedule some time scripture reading. For me, this time is best in the morning hopefully before the boys get up. Maybe you’re a night owl, make it work for you but, this will be well worth our time. Maybe something as little as 5 minutes...you can always add more time or "small" for you could be to read a small book of the Bible. Sometimes quality is more important than quantity. If you don’t want to take your Bible along....you can always download an app for your phone. I use Bible Gateway.
3. Traffic “Tune In”. Most vacations involve road trips. Take some time and turn on the Christian Radio. For those who may struggle finding a Christian radio Station, or would like a break from it perhaps you would consider an audiobook or CD series. While we certainly could choose any genre, consider a Christian book. Last year we read Not a Fan by Kyle Idelman by taking turns with the physical book. This year, for our trip, I did not procrastinate and I purchased Satisfied by Jeff Manion from Barnes and Noble online on CD. There are a lot of books available in audio form. Another great way would be to purchase it from Audible.com or download the app from your phone! (For those with kids, maybe something such as the Adventures in Odyssey series. We are trying this out for the first time this year).

What are some of your suggestions? What has worked for you? Leave a message in the comments. I would love to hear from you!

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Mother's Day and Father's Day

Last week, I alluded to holidays in which I must “tread lightly” and I address two additional holidays today: Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. I have preached at least one “Father’s Day” type sermon while I was interning at First Reformed in Sully IA centering on the Father in the Prodigal son, who of course represents our heavenly father and it was “God, thank you for fathers who…” I do not think that I have even preached a “Mother’s Day” sermon.  These two holidays are another occasion where we need to season things with a little pastoral salt. I must pay careful attention to additional circumstances.

Why do I feel this way? What could I be thinking? You may think, Pastor Mike, I do not see anything wrong with these types of sermons and I wish you would preach them. Well, I have a few reasons that I would like to share with you from some from personal thoughts, others from friends, family members and other pastors.

1.      Once again, our focus should always be on God. We certainly should be thankful for our mothers, fathers and those who have formed us, but to honor them over Christ is not something that we should do. I do not want to be redundant, but in lieu of last week’s blog, it seems like it is.

2.      We should be sensitive to those who are silently suffering. Miscarriage. Infertility. These words are taboo in the church despite the fact that is present in the Bible. These issues are incredibly real and cut close to the heart causing pain and anguish for many. Chances are members of our congregation are afflicted by or know someone who is afflicted by infertility. We do not always talk about it. Couples may not want everyone to hear that story and thus they keep it concealed from everyone. We may have someone mourning the loss of a parent recently or may be mourning/lamenting that “I will not be a father/mother”. This may make Mother’s/Father’s Day a really hard day for them as they may be “wishing” for something different or “lamenting” their current situation.

3.      How might someone who had broken/poor/non-existent relationships with their parents receive these sermons? I am blessed in my life to be born into a situation where my parents were married, supportive, and caring (and they still are). However, as sin and brokenness continues to alter the lives of our families, we begin to see a plethora of family situations. We have single-parent families, divorced families, re-marriages, children living in foster situations. Some of those children do not have a positive relationship with a father or a mother. There may be pain, there may be bitterness, there may be hurt. For them to hear a sermon honoring fathers may not be incredibly helpful.

For these reasons, I think we need to be careful in potentially “topic-focused” subjects on these days. The Bible certainly should be our guide in following God as parents, children, spouses, etc. and change our lives. Nevertheless, we do not need to use a specific day for it.

What are your thoughts about “Mother’s Day” and “Father’s Day” Sermons?  Please leave a comment and chime in!

(Are we) Singing Patriotic Hymns this week?

As a pastor, one of the times where I have to tread lightly are on the times of “holidays” that do not have a strong (or really any) significance for the church.  The holidays I am thinking of but are not limited to are Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, Presidents Day, Martin Luther King Jr Day, etc. Each one of these days certainly has significance and I do not want to discredit that. However, instituting patriotic hymns, can detract from the real reason that we are worshiping this Sunday (and every week) and that is because of our Triune God. When we take a look at a number of those patriotic hymns, the emphasis many times is on the beauty of America, the wonderful America and not on the wonderful God who gave us our lives and our nation. Singing these hymns for us detracts from the redemptive work of Jesus Christ whose blood purchased pardon for us. We certainly can and should pledge our allegiance to our nation, we have to remember that our allegiance should first belong to the one who deserves all of the praise and glory. Our worship is reserved for God and God alone, not our nation. As the scriptures say, “Thou shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3) Let our focus be on worshiping God not ourselves.

Secondly, we should be sensitive towards those around us. While this is probably more applicable for those in larger cities, we must remember that Christianity encompasses more than just the United States of America. If we were worshiping at a church in Canada, Germany or Japan and they began to sing songs about their nation being wonderful, would we perhaps cringe a little bit? A worship service should be a safe place for all. Our worship then, should reflect what God wants from us.  Revelation 7:9 says, “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages…” If we are singing songs about our nation, we may be unintentionally sending a message that God only is for the United States, which clearly is not the case.

I am thankful to God for those who have valiantly served. It is not my intent to “slight” or diminish the sacrifices that they have made. As an American and as a Christian it is my privilege and really my duty to honor those brave men, women and military families who have sacrificed so much for our freedom and safety as a nation. You may hear me say a prayer of thanksgiving on Sunday, but the day that we focus on that should be Monday not the Lord’s Day.

“Scripture quotations are from the ESV^® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”

PS There are a number of blogs and discussions about this topic on the web, I did peruse them in preparation for the blogs. I don’t remember all of them but I thank them for their contributions to the discussion.

Some samples are here.

http://www.churchleaders.com/pastors/preaching-teaching/148369-nationalism-or-christianity.html

http://www.ccwatershed.org/blog/2014/jul/4/should-we-sing-patriotic-hymns-mass/

http://redcardigan.blogspot.com/2011/09/patriotic-hymns-at-mass-yes-or-no.html

Sabbath

Image Courtesy mjimages

For many Sabbath may look like the picture above. Doing nothing.What is the Sabbath and what does it mean for us? Ideas of Sabbath could be arranged on a very diverse spectrum. Today, you might say that some of us do not really celebrate a Sabbath at all and thus there are no restrictions, while others may have been restricted to the point that they could not play outside and were only allowed to read books and attend church. Sabbath was equivalent to  Sunday and it meant there was no shopping or going out for dinner, but it was a “quiet” day with special clothes that you could not get dirty. What was your thought of Sabbath?

Two weeks ago, Krystal and I went to the RHMA Small Town Pastors Conference in Morton, Illinois. One of the seminars that we went to was led by Dr. Don and Nell Sunukjian, who serve as professors at the Talbot School of Theology. The title of the seminar was “Stamina and Joy for the Long Haul.” One of the major perspectives of their view for joy and stamina was a recovery of the Sabbath. And while it is fresh in my mind I share these ideas with you…

As Dr. Sunukijan reminds us, The Sabbath was instituted before the law in creation. Genesis 2:3-5 says, “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. ² And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. ³ So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.” The “Law” does not appear until Exodus. God rests. God, who is omnipotent (meaning all powerful) rested. God does not require rest however he demonstrates for us a practical and important lesson. We need to rest…maybe physically but also mentally. We cannot go 7 days a week.

If God takes a rest, then we certainly should as well. It is essential for us to do that, but practically speaking, how can we do that? Well, the Biblical pattern is one day of rest with six work days. For Pastors and their families, Sunday is not a practical day to take a “Sabbath”….because they are preaching, teaching and separate for a portion of the day. A Sabbath is something for the entire family, for us to reconnect with one another.   Set a day in the week and make it the Sabbath. Don’t do your normal work meaning the work that you would do for income or your “regular work.” So stay at home moms, you should celebrate this as well…no Laundry that day! By all means as the Sunukijans suggest, feed your family, that does not keep you from familial responsibility…but rather job responsibilities. And maybe fulfill your responsibilities in a way that grows you.

On the Sabbath, it is ok “to work” doing things that will reinvigorate you…for my Father, that means he can garden….for you that might mean baking cookies for a friend or with your kids. Use the Sabbath to connect to grow and to refresh. Don’t keep on going through all 7 days. It is not God’s intention for you or for me. The Sabbath is a gift to us….unwrap it and enjoy it. Pick a day a week as a family, mark it as a Sabbath and see how it changes your outlook.

“Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”

5 Reasons Why We Avoid Evangelism

Recently our church has implemented a 1, 2, 3 evangelism challenge. Some of you may be wondering about the challenge. It is a plan that you invite one person to church in January, two people in February, and so on all the way up to 12 in December. If we follow that challenge by the end of the year, we will have invited 78 people to church. For some, this evangelism challenge will spur us on while for others it will cause us anxiety. The thought crossed my mind: why do we have trouble evangelizing or why do we avoid evangelism? Thom Rainer has written a good post about this here. One of my points is adapted from a couple of his, but I will share a few reasons of my own too. 

1.      We do not evangelize because we are afraid.

Fear is a common deterrent. We tend to avoid things that produce fear in us. Kids who fear the dark insist on having a night light. People who are afraid of flying avoid traveling in airplanes. Because we fear the act of evangelism, we simply do not share the gospel. We do not want to share the gospel because people inevitably may label us. We think, “I don’t want the stigma.” We may think of an evangelist as a televangelist or a person with a sandwich sign, or perhaps someone screaming on the street corner. Nevertheless, the reality is that people are already labeling us, by our clothes, by our actions, by our friends. We should be battling so that we are identified with our love for Christ opposed to our love for the Detroit Lions (insert any sports team, family member, rock band, hobby here).

In reality, do we have to fear? Do we fear rejection from our family and friends?  The message, the joy, and the opportunity of eternal life should far outweigh whatever consequences we might face right now. We must remember too that we are not alone. God tells us that we should not fear. Jesus’ name is Emmanuel, God with us.  God is omnipresent. He is everywhere. Let us trust him to be with us. Check out these verses if you are uncertain of God’s Presence.

2.      We exclusively “share” the gospel in our actions.

This reason certainly may connect with the first one, but I think it deserves its own category. Yes, we can and we do share the gospel with our actions.  We say that actions are more powerful than words, but oftentimes we need to use words. A man can tell his beautiful wife that he loves her through showering her with gifts, through doing a share of the housework, by watching the kids so she can spend a night with her friends. He can lovingly stare into her eyes. However, I still believe that despite all of those actions, she still wants to and needs to hear “I love you,” said.

You may ask what does that have to do with evangelism? We miss an opportunity to share the gospel if we exclusively use our actions. You say, well, I donate to charity, well unfortunately agnostics, atheists, and people from other religions donate to charities too because they think it is a good thing. You may say I donate to Christian charities, well, that is great too. Well, I volunteer at x, y and z. Once again, anyone can volunteer. While giving and service certainly are marks of a Christian life, another mark is sharing the gospel. Our actions as well as our words should proceed out of our love for Christ.

3.      We do not evangelize because we think our “story” is simply not enough. (And you are right!.)

When we go to Christian concerts or we see Christian movies we may see some type of testimony. We see a “rags to riches” type account. We tend to see or think of the extremes in testimonies and evangelism. We hear the story of the drug dealer who turns their life around or the person who completely hits rock bottom and was perhaps suicidal, or the near death experience. We then think, well my story is not that drastic or that powerful thereby assuming that we lack an incredible witness. The reality is, however, we all have the rags to riches story. Paul tells us that we were all dead in our trespasses and Christ gives us new life. Each of our stories whether we grew up in a largely Christian home or had a colorful life away from God is still valid. The story that Jesus Christ came to die for our sins is the same for you, for me, and for everyone else. It still remains the greatest ever told.

Chances are, as well that many of the people whom you may be sharing your faith with, are people who know you and love you. If they care about you, they will want to hear your story as well, and you should care enough about them to share it.

The truth is that none of our stories is enough, the Holy Spirit who is working in their hearts. Our lives and our stories are the vessels through which the Holy Spirit works.  It is not our stories bringing people to Christ rather the Holy Spirit who calls.  If we put our hope and our strength in God while evangelizing, we will be much better off.

4.      We have forgotten our role as evangelists. (Thanks Thom Rainer)

Ministry is a wonderful occupation. It is great to be able to serve a church family, to preach the gospel, to shepherd. Unfortunately, one of the unintentional consequences of having dedicated ministers is that we seem to have lost our evangelistic bearings. Church members may feel like this is the Pastor’s job. Evangelizing is what he is paid to do, right? On job descriptions, many churches put that they want to grow the church spiritually and in numbers. Therefore, they think that evangelism is the pastor’s responsibility. It is (Or at least it should be), but the responsibility also falls on the members. None of us has an exemption from the Great Commission. Jesus calls us to make disciples. Friends, we all are responsible for sharing the gospel.

5

5.      We take the Gospel for granted.

This is the United States of America, our paper currency says “In God We Trust” we may have opening invocations at business meetings and school functions, but the reality is, that many have not heard the gospel. They may know stories, but they may not have the full picture. We think that everyone knows the message, but this simply is not the case. We probably have neighbors who are not at church, we probably have friends that are not at church, co-workers and friends who are not at church. These individuals need the gospel just as much as we do. We cannot simply assume that everyone has the knowledge of Jesus  Christ. We should work to make sure that everyone knows the gospel.The Gospel is about transformation, changing lives; we should share that same opportunity for transformation. 

Why do you avoid sharing the Gospel? Is it one of these reasons? Would you like to share yours? Leave a comment below!

Photo Credit: mzacha

http://www.freeimages.com/photo/1193154

Be Still

"Be still, and know that I am God"—Psalm 46:10 NIV

Are you someone who has trouble waiting? I think that we all at times are people who cannot wait. As a child, I recall sitting in the restaurant and my parents reciting a series of thoughts to keep me occupied as we await the meal.  "Well, Mike, they need to go out and find a chicken", "They need to catch it, kill it, clean it and then they need to cook it in order for you to have your chicken tenders." A much longer process than a young boy wants to think about.  Well, for the sake of honesty, I still may have to do that in my head at times as I await dinner at a restaurant.


For whatever reason, we seem to lack patience. We do not just want things, we want them and we want them now! As Americans, we not only have fast food restaurants, rather drive-through fast food restaurants so that we can eat on the go (and even get irritated when we have to wait too long in line). In the last twenty years, I have gone from thinking that dial-up internet (if you wish to reminisce, you may click this link) was incredible to thinking…my high-speed internet could be upgraded. We do not understand what being “still” is anymore.

In the psalm, the writer calls us to look to God in times of trouble, and really all of the time. We remain in his hands, and he continues to work wonders even if we are moving too fast to see them.

Be Still. We are a country and a people who seem restless, moving from activity to activity. Moreover, because we are going at such a rapid pace, we neglect to listen, to meditate, to think. As a result, our relationship with God can suffer. We may complain that God is not speaking, but maybe we are not listening. Perhaps we need to slow down our lives and let God back in. It is time to hit the brakes!

How can we slowdown in our lives? Maybe it means taking the time to say a prayer several times a day opposed to meal times or as we lay down to sleep. Maybe it means opening the scripture, meditating on the scriptures and asking, “God what are you saying here?” rather than continuing to simply hit a “chapter a day” quota. Maybe we could start by saying a prayer of thanksgiving for who God is, and what he has done. Perhaps we invest more in our families and our relationships through family game nights opposed to catching up with our favorite reality TV show. It could be that God can speak to us through the experiences of others.

How will you and I try to slow down? Feel free to submit a thought. Let us slowdown in our lives, and turn to see what great things God is doing in our midst.

photo credit: Chovee via photopin cc